The prior art is replete with references to herbal medicines for treatment of a variety of ailments in mammals. Typically, such herbal medicines are obtained as the active compound(s) by extraction from plant tissues. Although the use of various herbs have been described in related areas, the synergistic combination of the herbs in the edible composition of the invention has never previously been described.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 4,005,237 discloses a combination of Cinnamomum sieboldii and Allium sativum for superoxide scavenging in the treatment of inflammatory disorders. German patent Publication No. 3,724,341 discloses a combination of Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Pumica granitum cortex, Cardamon zingiberaceie fruit and Piper longum fruit.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,494,668 is directed to a method of treating degenerative musculoskeletal diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis in an animal, typically a human, by enteric administration of a therapeutically effective amount of the beneficiated extracts of the plants Withania somnifera, Boswellia serrata, Curcuma longa and Zingiber officinale in a predetermined proportion to each other.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,538 is directed to a method of treating inflammation in a patient by administration of an effective dose of a pharmaceutical composition comprising essential oils extracted from tissues of Curcuma domestica, or Curcuma xanthorrhiza or both oils and curcuminoid substantially free of bis-desmethoxycurcumin.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,707,631 is directed to a therapeutic herbal composition including Trigonella foenum-graecum seed, Syzygium aromaticum fruit, Allilum sativum bulb, Cinnamomum zeylanicum bark, Saussurea costus root and Euphorbia lathyris bud together with sodium chloride (preferably sea salt).
Arthritis is a chronic syndrome characterized by inflammation of the peripheral joints, while gout manifests itself as an inflammation of the lower leg. For the sake of brevity, whenever reference hereinbelow is made to arthritis, it should be understood as encompassing gout, since the principal difference between arthritis and gout is the location of the inflamed joints. There is a wide spectrum of disease severity but many patients run a course of intermittent relapses and remissions with an overall pattern of slowly progressive joint destruction and deformity. Persistent inflammation produces symptoms and damages tissue causing loss of cartilage, erosion of bone matter and subluxation of the joint. This results in a high degree of morbidity resulting in disturbed daily life of the patient. Diagnosis of arthritis is typically carried out by determination of rheumatoid factor in the blood and radiological changes in the peripheral joints.
Present treatment of arthritis includes first line drugs for control of pain and inflammation classified as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), e.g., aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, methotrexate, etc. Secondary treatments include corticosteroids, slow acting antirheumatic drugs (SAARDs) or disease modifying drugs (DMs), e.g., penicillinamine, cyclophosphamide, gold salts, azothipprine, levamisole, etc.
All of the foregoing drugs have a variety of toxic side effects and most of them are cytotoxic. These drugs have limited advantages and their effects are mainly of short term duration. The side effects they produce, e.g., gastric erosion, and adverse effects on the kidneys and liver, dictate against their use over extended periods of time. Further the drugs used at present are costly and have low benefit-risk ratios. There still remains a need for alternative therapies for the management of arthritis which are moderate in cost, safe, efficacious and which eliminate the need for traditional drugs and their associated side effects, particularly over prolonged daily use.